


The Ramifications of a Meddling Time Ship

by goingtothetardis



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Dress Up, F/M, Fluff, Girls' Night, Humor, Meddling TARDIS, Post-Episode AU: s04e13 Journey's End, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-20
Updated: 2015-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-27 05:14:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5035162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goingtothetardis/pseuds/goingtothetardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While the Doctor is imprisoned on a matriarchal planet, the TARDIS helps Martha, Donna, and Rose play dress up and have a quality girls’ night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ramifications of a Meddling Time Ship

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jeeno2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeeno2/gifts).



> For [jeeno2](http://jeeno2.tumblr.com/) on the occasion of her 40th birthday. Thank you for being a wonderful human being!! I hope you like it.
> 
> This little (or not so little) story sprang to life after I saw [this post](http://megabadbunny-art.tumblr.com/post/131130642363/buffyann23-i-would-love-to-see-this-scene-drawn) from buffyann23 and the subsequent drawing from megabadbunny. I apologize for the overwhelmingly disgusting fluff fest to follow.
> 
> Huge thanks to [aimtoallonsy](http://aimtoallonsy.tumblr.com/) for the beta and to [tenscupcake](http://tenscupcake.tumblr.com/) and [allonsywobbly](http://allonsywobbly.tumblr.com/) for the advice, encouragement, and brainstorming help!
> 
> This is written from a UA, canon divergent perspective. The Stolen Earth and Journey’s End happened (with some revisions): Donna did not lose her memories, and everything was resolved without the addition of Tentoo. Donna continued to travel with the Doctor and Rose, whose relationship has unfortunately not progressed. Also, I don’t really know anything about Classic Who and classic Gallifreyan traditions, so I took some extreme creative liberties while writing things at the end after I didn’t find any information in brief Google searches. I’m sorry (but not that sorry) if I totally trashed Classic canon in my determination to get the Doctor and Rose together. Worse things have happened.

The door to the TARDIS swung in with the determined hand of an irate woman. Rose Tyler stormed into the TARDIS, fuming, while Martha and Donna followed, matching smirks on their faces. 

The TARDIS console whooshed up and down, greeting her three passengers. 

Rose strode up the bridge and paced furiously around the console, the metal grating beneath her feet clanging with each step. 

“I don’t know who he bloody well thinks he is, sometimes, the wanker!” Rose seethed, her accent growing thicker with each word. “Running head first into everything is going to get him killed sometime - I wouldn’t be bloody surprised if it hasn’t before! He can go and regenerate into a troll, for all I care, stupid git.”

Martha and Donna sat side by side on the jumpseat, watching bemusedly as Rose continued her tirade. 

“Sure, let’s pick up Martha for a week of adventure and fun, all the girls together for a big reunion. Of _course_ we end up on a matriarchal planet where men are by law submissive to their wives, and of _course_ he can’t bloody well be my husband for five minutes, and of _course_ he has to run off with that gob of his and get himself thrown in prison.”

Rose stopped mid-stride and threw her hands up to her head, pulling at her long, blond strands in frustration. She groaned loudly before resuming her journey around the console. 

“Let it out, sweetheart, we all know that daft alien needs to be reminded of his place now and then,” Donna encouraged, rolling her eyes at the Doctor’s stubbornness.

Rose finished another lap around the console and flopped down on the jumpseat next to Martha. 

“Thing is,” she began, “it’s not really about what he said in front of the Matron Finola that infuriates me. It’s not really about any of that, really, even though we used to pretend we were married all the time to stay out of trouble. I just thought - well - I thought things would be different between us, now I’m back. I crossed all those dimensions to find him, saved the universe in the process, mind, and now, now it’s like he can’t believe I exist.”

“Maybe he doesn’t,” Martha said, thoughtfully. “I didn’t know for the longest time what to make of you, his lost companion, but he always ignored me and charged head first into a new adventure. Maybe, well - maybe he’s scared you’re going to leave again, or worse, get taken from him.”

Donna nodded in agreement and added, “Everyone knows the Doctor is arse over kettle for you, Rose. I think Spaceman out there needs to start ignoring that superior alien brain of his and see what’s right in front of him.”

Rose snorted in disbelief of _that_ ever happening and sighed. “Right. I’ll believe that when it happens. Feel like a cuppa?”

“What about the Doctor?” Martha asked. “Shouldn’t we get him out of prison?”

Rose stood up and walked to the console, trailing her fingers along the edge. “Nah, I say we let him spend a night in prison under the protection of the Sisters Finola. I don’t think he’ll be too uncomfortable in his cell with telly, dinner menu, and comfy bed.” She paused and turned, grinning mischievously at Martha and Donna, as she recalled the prison when they’d tried to free the Doctor.

They laughed. 

“Pretty sure he’ll talk his way out of there by morning,” Rose said. “A place like this isn’t used to a gob like that on a man. Wonder if the TARDIS can find something for us to do.”

The TARDIS promptly flashed lights in the doorway leading to the depths of the ship. Rose looked at Donna and Martha with a grin and asked, “Allons-y?”

As the TARDIS lit up the hallway in front of her to guide them to a mysterious destination, Rose contemplated the events of the last few months. Donna and Martha chatted behind her. Since her return to life with the Doctor, the last thing Rose expected was a lack of development in her relationship with him. He’d held her at arm's length since her return, and she could not figure out what was holding him back. She wasn’t asking for marriage, but the end to that sentence would certainly be nice. At this point she’d be happy with holding hands like they used to. She’d briefly considered that he didn’t feel for her that way anymore, but many late night discussions over a cuppa with Donna had convinced her otherwise. And the way his face looked as he sprinted towards her in that street before their reunion collision was disrupted by Jack blowing the Dalek to pieces… Well, that had to mean _something_ , didn’t it? 

Rose’s thoughts were interrupted as the lights led them to a familiar door. 

“The wardrobe room?” Rose asked the TARDIS. The lights flickered in acknowledgement, and the three women walked inside. 

“The TARDIS has a wardrobe room?!” Martha exclaimed as she looked around in awe. 

Donna and Rose turned to look at Martha in astonishment. Surely...no. Not possible. 

“Do you mean to say,” Donna started, a heated question in the making, “that great, ruddy plonker of an alien never showed you this room the entire time you traveled with him? What did you wear?” 

Martha looked sideways at Rose and then back to Donna. “Well,” she started, “I always wore my own clothes. Sometimes, if I needed something like a pair of shoes, I found some in my wardrobe. Little things, though. A scarf or gloves. Or a packed bag in the console room when we ran from the Family. I always wondered whether I should dress up to match the time we landed in, but the Doctor never changed, so I never thought it was necessary.”

Donna shook her head incredulously, and Rose linked elbows with Martha, pulling her into the cavernous room with the spiraled staircase.

“I’m so, so sorry Martha. In fact, I’m a bit surprised the Doctor never brought you here. Or the TARDIS!” Rose glared at the ceiling in a somewhat accusing manner, and the lights dimmed noticeably as if the ship was apologizing. 

Donna and Martha exchanged glances.

“Martha, you must have been here before. You mentioned meeting Shakespeare. You cannot tell me the Doctor let you step outside in the late 1500s in jeans and a leather jacket,” Donna insisted before adding thoughtfully, “Although, I suppose I didn’t think about it either before we landed in Pompeii. Evelina, bless, gave me a tunica to wear.” 

Martha snorted. “Yeah, he did. Just said, ‘Walk about like you own the place, it works for me.’”

“A good leather jacket, jeans, and trainers can get you most places around the universe, but sometimes it’s important to fit in with the culture and time,” Rose added, cheeks turning pink as she remembered her first Doctor and his comment after seeing her in the dress she wore in Cardiff. 

Donna eyed Rose suspiciously and said, “There’s a story with that blush, Rose.”

Rose sighed. “Not really. It was my first trip to the past, right after I started traveling with the Doctor, and already there was this, this spark between us, yeah? I dunno. It was lovely. He said I looked beautiful.”

She gasped as they were surrounded by racks of fancy gowns and wedding dresses. _Wedding dresses?_ “I think,” Rose started, “I think the TARDIS wants us to play dress up.”

The lights in room began flashing various colors, and the women laughed at the ship’s lack of subtlety. 

Over the next few hours, Rose, Donna, and Martha tried on dozens of dresses, staging a mock fashion show with the runway the TARDIS provided in the middle of the room. Countless accessories lined the wall opposite the gowns, from jewelry to the most impractical of high heels, suitable for wear only within the safety of the time ship. Having retrieved Malruvian wine and chocolate cake from the galley early on, Rose, Donna, and Martha were relaxed and happy, enjoying the company of each other without the burdens of a time traveler to weigh them down. 

Eventually they tired of their adventures in modeling, but the TARDIS had one more surprise for them. Lights brightened in a corner of the room to shine on an ornate wardrobe, the doors open to encourage exploration of the contents inside. 

Donna and Martha eagerly found the dresses, reserved with the letter of their first names hanging on a thin chain around the hangers, and quickly changed. Rose relaxed into a squatty, cushioned couch, content to wait her turn as she watched her mates oooh and ahhh over their finds. 

Martha groaned loudly in appreciation of her gown, a wedding dress with a strapless, boned, corset style top covered in sheer floral detailing and a layered, white tulle skirt that maintained a light-weight transparency. Amazed at the way it fit her body perfectly, she gave a tiny twirl, loving the way the material flowed around her. 

“That’s it, I want a redo. I’m coming back full-time, and I’ll let the TARDIS dress me for each stop we make,” Martha declared, turning from side to side in front of the wall-sized mirror. “I still cannot believe that git of a Time Lord never once showed me this room.” 

Rose giggled as Donna joined Martha in front of the mirror, quickly twisting her thick red hair in a topknot on her head to admire her dress.

Donna’s dress was made from a light and airy, flowing material, and the color was a creamy champagne that contrasted beautifully with her fiery red hair. A long slit up one leg ended before it became too risque, and the material ruched and twisted together over one shoulder, meeting the material from the back in an elegant twist and cascading down in the front and back. The look boldly accentuated her curves and personality while maintaining her conservative style. 

Rose grabbed Martha’s phone off the accessories dresser and snapped a few pictures of Donna and Martha posing on the runway. 

“Now this,” Donna intoned, “this I could get used to. Custom couture wedding gowns at the snap of my fingers. Now I only need to find the groom.”

Rose chuckled, as she made her way to the wardrobe. She stared at the third dress hanging on the ornate rack and cautiously reached out a hand toward the dress. 

“I think,” she started, somewhat confused, “I think the TARDIS has something a little less bridal in mind for me.”

Martha and Donna joined Rose at the wardrobe, and they gaped at the dress on the rack. Rose slowly slipped it off the hanger, undid the delicate buttons, and stepped into the dress. Turning silently to Donna, Rose stood still, chewing her thumbnail as Donna helped fasten the back.

“Done,” Donna murmured. “Now turn around.” 

Rose turned and stared at herself in the mirror, her sharp intake of breath the only sound in the room. The lights in the room dimmed and brightened as the TARDIS acknowledged her approval. 

The gown was a seamless mermaid style that hugged her curves until it flared out gracefully near the bottom. A simple, dipped sweetheart neckline accented her bosom. The style and shape of the dress, however, was not what drew the eye. A deep, midnight blue, the clearly alien material created the illusion of the fathomless depths of space, with colorful, gaseous clouds forming an image of a spectacular nebula. As Rose moved, the illusion shifted subtly. Donna removed a thin, glittering gold cord from the dress hanger and carefully draped and tied it around Rose’s waist. The cord, while contrasting with the illusion of space, looked natural in its spot, only adding to the dramatic effect. 

Martha reached out a hand to touch the dress over Rose’s hip, almost as if she couldn’t help herself. Her hand stopped, feeling the material, and she exclaimed, “I almost thought I’d be able to reach into space. What _is_ this dress?”

The TARDIS hummed, as if she were smugly in the know about something her dear companions were not.

“I’m not sure,” Rose replied breathily, “but I think I’d like to keep it on for a while. What do you say to heading to the media room for some trash telly and popcorn? Lounging on the sofa in couture formal wear? Can you imagine the Doctor’s expression if he could see us right now?”

Donna exploded in laughter with more enthusiasm than necessary after Rose’s question, drawing startled looks from both Martha and Rose.

“Oh, this is flipping _brilliant_! Have you heard of the American show on telly called ‘Friends’?”

After Rose and Martha shook their heads no, Donna continued, “The TARDIS showed it to me one night in my room, and I watched all ten seasons in three days. Told the Doctor I was ill and wouldn’t let him cure me with his alien magic tricks. Drove him spare. But there’s one episode when Rachel, Monica, and Phoebe dress up in wedding dresses and watch telly and eat popcorn and scorn the existence of all men. This is bloody brilliant.”

Rose and Martha laughed at Donna’s story as they gathered their things to leave the wardrobe room. On the way down the hall, Martha surprised both Donna and Rose with a revelation.

“You know how Mickey started working for Jack in Cardiff? Well, I’ve been on special assignment again at the hub for a month, now. Mickey asked me out last week, and we went on our first date the night before you picked me up. I swear, I thought Jack was going to cry,” Martha laughed as she shared her news.

Rose stopped mid-stride and squealed happily as she enveloped Martha in a bone crushing hug, grinning with happiness for her friends. Donna exclaimed, “You are kidding me!” before joining the hug with Martha and Rose.

Martha shared the details of her date as they arrived in the media room, and Rose wandered to the microwave in the corner of the room to pop some popcorn. There were many varieties of popcorn available on the TARDIS, but sometimes old fashioned Earth popcorn was needed to satisfy a craving. 

As she settled on the couch with Martha and Donna, two bowls of popcorn to share between them, Rose asked, “What about you, Donna? I’m sorry I haven’t asked until now, so wrapped up in the Doctor’s indecision, I’ve been.”

Donna flinched and said, “Not really, not since that tosser I told you about when I first met the Doctor. Lance, Lance and the Racnoss, a match made in heaven. Oh, and there was Lee in the Library, but I couldn’t find him in the end, and I kind of gave up hope. It wasn’t real, anyway.”

Donna then briefly recounted her story of what happened in the biggest library in the universe as Rose and Martha looked on in horror. 

Grabbing Donna’s hand, Rose looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully and mused, “I wonder if the TARDIS could access the database of guests from before the one hundred years started. I mean, we technically wouldn’t be stepping into established events, and there must be some record of him there. You know his name, yeah? Maybe we could find where he comes from and visit after he goes back, if he was at least based on someone real.”

Donna nodded, a hopeful look in her eyes, before asking to talk about it later with the Doctor. Rose agreed, and the three settled back as the the ‘Friends’ pilot started playing. 

Several episodes later and fully immersed in the program, the women jumped up from the couch with shouts of surprise as the door to the media room swung open with a bang to reveal the Doctor. One of the popcorn bowls bounced in the air and flew across the room, sprinkling popcorn all over the floor.

“There you are!” he exclaimed. “Here I was thinking you three lovely ladies were full of concern for my well-being and were working hard to get my bum out of prison, but _naaaaaah_ , you’re here in the TARDIS watching American telly in--in _wedding dresses_?!” 

The Doctor opened his mouth to continue prattling away about the downright rudeness of being left to rot in prison, but he got a good look at his companions when the lights brightened, and he stopped mid-breath, still as a statue, jaw hanging wide open, all thoughts gone from his mind. His gaze focused on Rose as she made her way around the couch to see if he was alright. 

Staring at Rose as she walked toward him, he recognized the impossible image of the Medusa Cascade on her gown, shifting slightly as she moved. When she stopped in front of him, his eyes traveled the length of her body, resting momentarily on the golden cord, before moving to her feet and back to her face. 

“Rose,” he choked out, “your gown, the cord, where--how--?”

He trailed off, incapable of finishing the question, as one pink and golden timeline began to softly curl its tendrils around his blue one. He gasped, suddenly, as the implications of the timeline made themselves clear, and the Doctor reached for Rose, one hand firmly on her hip and one tangled in her hair as he lowered his mouth to hers in a searing kiss. 

On the other side of the room, Martha squeaked loudly, and Donna’s eyes filled with tears as she watched the Doctor and Rose _finally_ fall into the embrace that should have happened when they were first reunited _months_ ago. 

Rose unwillingly pulled away from the Doctor as her lungs demanded air. She laughed a tearful giggle as she dazedly asked, “Doctor? Why? I’m not complaining, mind you, but I still haven’t heard the end of that sentence, and you’ve been so distant, and I wasn’t sure...”

The Doctor took a moment to find the right words. “I am so, so sorry I’ve been such a git since you came back. For me. To save the universe, obviously, but ultimately you came back for me. For _me_! What, Rose Tyler, did I do to deserve that? So I hid myself away, terrified I’d lose you again. But here you are and in that dress, no less, and the cord? Where did you get it? Do you know what it means?”

Rose blinked at the onslaught of unexpected babble from the Doctor, a solitary tear slipping down her cheek in happiness. 

“No, I mean-- the TARDIS, she gave it to me. It’s gorgeous, yeah?” Rose explained, as she twisted the cord in her hands. 

The Doctor took the cord from her and let it slowly run through his fingers, holding the end in his hand. 

“This is a handfasting cord, a cord an old order of Gallifreyans used during the equivalent of Gallifreyan marriage ceremonies. It was used to initiate a bond between two Gallifreyans, and because of our affinity and connection with time, the bond had a way of binding their lifespans together. It wasn’t used in the Gallifrey I remember, it was only a legend. And your dress, Rose, your dress is the Medusa Cascade, and there’s a secret hidden within it I can only ever tell a bond mate.”

Rose stared into the Doctor’s eyes and shivered at the dark intensity she found there.

“So…” she said, unsure of how to continue, hardly daring to believe the meaning of what he said.

The Doctor continued after a moment, shaking his head to clear his mind of an overwhelming sense of disbelief, and let the cord fall back to her side.

“The TARDIS was trying to tell me something, I believe, trying to get into my thickity-thick head. I’m thinking, and mind you, this is a very educated guess, but I’m very clever and am almost certain I am right, but I believe the TARDIS thinks you and I could be bonded together. But that would mean…” The Doctor trailed off, the ramifications of the situation hitting him.

“But that would mean you have a connection to time. How is that--” He stopped, abruptly, remembering the one time Rose _did_ have a connection with time. 

“Yeah, Doctor, I did open up the heart of the TARDIS to come rescue you. And you _know_ I’ve been able to communicate better with the TARDIS since that happened,” came a cheeky reply from Rose. 

The Doctor’s brow furrowed as he remembered the moment he removed the vortex from Rose. “But I removed it from you, it saved your life, and I regenerated. How…?”

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes, wondering how her Time Lord with his impressively clever brain could sometimes be so dense.

“Clearly I did something as Bad Wolf to make this possible, Doctor. Stop fighting it and let yourself love me, yeah, and, if it’s something you want, bond with me. You asked me once how long I was going to stay with you, and I told you forever. That hasn’t changed.”

The Doctor stared at Rose, waves of hope causing his hearts to pound loudly, before exclaiming, “ _If it’s something I want?_ Rose, there isn’t a doubt in my mind about what I want. Does it really need saying?”

Rose’s eyes shone with tears as she leaned in to place a soft kiss on the Doctor’s lips.

“Oh, Rose Tyler,” the Doctor declared, working his tongue and lips around her name in the way only he could, “I love you. I - love - you, and I--”

“Well then, stop being difficult, Time Lord. I love you. Let’s do this.”

The Doctor immediately pulled Rose in for another embrace, his mouth closing over hers with desperate enthusiasm, and they clung to each other in anticipation of things to come. 

“OI, MATE!” Donna shouted, causing the Doctor and Rose to break apart with a wet smack, both of them blushing furiously. 

Donna smirked at Martha before continuing. “I’m bloody well thankful you two idiots finally worked things out, but you need to do _that_ when you don’t have an audience. Now, did I hear things right? Do we have a wedding to plan? Come on, Martha, I’m sure the TARDIS can help. I certainly know we’ll have the perfect dresses to wear.”

Donna and Martha breezed out of the media room on a mission, their own gowns creating a whirlwind of white tulle and satin as they passed by. 

The Doctor stood dumbfounded, his face pale as he watched Donna make plans without stopping for breath. 

Laughing at him, Rose took his hand, and their fingers curled reflexively together, finally back where they belonged. 

“Come on, Doctor,” Rose said, pulling him out of the media room. “Let them have fun. You and I have some catching up to do.”

As they walked down the corridor, hand in hand, the lights in the hallway flickered merrily. 

Sometimes a time ship just needs to meddle.

**Author's Note:**

> [Martha's Dress](http://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/bridal-fall-2016/carolina-herrera/slideshow/collection#4)  
> [Donna's Dress](http://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2014-couture/elie-saab/slideshow/collection#31) (in champagne)  
> [Rose's Dress](http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/W079-Alluring-Western-Style-Dropped-Waist-Pleat-Sweetheart-Beaded-Lace-Wedding-Dress-Mermaid/1080546_1672546913.html) (just in the shape and style)


End file.
